“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead
In this issue, we interview two local activists, Anne Wheaton and Geoff Ellsworth. They have pleaded with public agencies for years to address Clover Flat Landfill’s dangerous conditions, which result from radioactive waste from Mare Island, fire from methane release, and leachate runoff contaminating two tributaries of the Napa River. Workers have been unwittingly exposed to these conditions.
Change often begins at the grassroots level. Please read their story and consider joining them in moving our county to decommission Clover Flat Landfill.
An Interview with Anne Wheaton and Geoff Ellsworth.
Please give us a history of Clover Flat Landfill and its issues:
In the windswept mountainous terrain atop Napa Valley’s headwaters sits a 60-year landfill with a checkered past and a litany of environmental violations, fires, employee complaints, lawsuits, and neighbors relentlessly pleading with regulators and Napa County officials to be heard. Clover Flat Landfill, owned for the past 60 years by the local Pestoni Family, seemed impervious to scrutiny by elected officials as they have held no-bid government contracts for over six decades.
After years of persistent and relentless pressure, in 2023, the politically active Pestoni Family sold the landfill to Waste Connections, the third largest national waste-management company in North America, headquartered in Texas.
Over the years, numerous environmental violations have surfaced, including a Water Board fine of $619,00 in 2023 and a significant Fish & Wildlife damage assessment that is still being realized.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife noted, “CFL had severely polluted the unnamed tributaries (Streams 1 and 2) that flow through the landfill property. Officer White observed large amounts of earth waste spoils, leachate, litter, and sediment allowed to enter the streams. Stream 2 had been severely altered without any notification to CDFW, and there was essentially no aquatic life in sections of Stream 1.” Read the full report here.
Clover Flat Landfill was also in breach of governmental contracts in 2019. Instead of seeking alternate waste management options, the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency opted to renew the contracts, remove service area boundaries, and deregulate the oversight. Fires and contamination concerns continue to the present day.
Twenty-three former and current employees have filed a formal complaint to federal and state agencies, including the US Department of Justice, alleging “clearly negligent practices in the management of these toxic and hazardous materials at UVDS/CFL over decades.” The employees cited “inadequate and compromised infrastructure and equipment” that they said was “affecting employees as well as the surrounding environment and community.”
Currently, there are open investigations by federal and state regulatory agencies on both the criminal and civil sides of justice. The open investigations include the US Justice Department/FBI, EPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Fish & Wildlife, and the Local Enforcement Agency of CalRecycle.
You are calling for the Clover Flat Landfill to be decommissioned. Could you say more about that?
Residents and neighbors of these troubled waste sites have become frustrated by the inaction of Napa County to do anything to protect them from fires, water contamination, health concerns, nuisance noise, obnoxious smells, and significant loss in property value.
Clover Flat Landfill has been cited by every regulatory agency that oversees its operation: CalFire, Fish & Wildlife, Regional Water Quality Control Board, Air Board, Local Enforcement Agency CalRecycle, Napa County Planning and Building, and Cal OSHA.
Despite seeing the waste sites sold to Waste Connections and agreeing with Pestoni’s admission that a larger waste management company with economies of scale is better equipped to handle these waste operations, the unmitigable factors of the sensitive areas where these waste sites are located remain.
Significant portions of Clover Flat Landfill are unlined, and employees have reported “ghost” piping (diverting leachate into the waterways through unmapped piping) on both waste sites. There have also been reports from Dennis Kelly and others who prefer to be unnamed of Mare Island Naval shipyard nuclear waste, asbestos, and other toxic materials being trucked up to Clover Flat Landfill in the middle of the night and being buried when the Mare Island shipyard was shutting down.
There is also evidence that the PFAS (forever chemicals) found in the leachate and groundwater at Clover Flat Landfill leachate and toxins are escaping the landfill into the waters of the state, as seen in the internal document below between the SF Regional Water Quality Control employees (see below). The leachate was used unknowingly by unprotected workers to put out fires at the site during the Glass Fire and moisturize “organic” compost sold to residents.
The fire risk alone is a reason for closure since it is in a high fire tier zone bordering a very high fire tier zone. Clover Flat Landfill was severely burned in the Glass Fire and had a long history of fires starting at the landfill. The landfill can now be capped to diminish the fuel load, and the methane releases will decrease over time. We hope Waste Connections will signal to the public that this is their intention, but we all need to speak up as they consider the next steps.
How long does it take to decommission?
How does this affect the communities that use these landfills?
Decommissioning a landfill is a 30-year process, and all landfills go under periodic review to show they have the funds for a 30-year wind-down and monitoring. With Waste Connections ownership, this path is within reach. They own the Potrero Hills Landfill, where the rest of Napa County’s waste goes via a transfer station. Waste Connections is uniquely positioned to make the shift possible because they hold the contracts for waste, hauling, and recycling. They own well-run facilities that are within reach and have economies of scale to process the valley waste.
Clover Flat Landfill is already seeking permits to become a Transfer Station, which we support, with the caveat of forfeiting the landfill permit. If they cap Clover Flat Landfill now, a remediation process can begin, similar to what happened in American Canyon when they capped the landfill and then transitioned it into beautiful walking trails. Given the evidence and data we have seen over the years, this site needs to be remediated and possibly considered a Superfund site through the EPA investigations. All these things should be explored.
How is Napa County responding to this information about the danger to workers and the public?
The public records requests have revealed that they recognize these two waste sites as problematic. Numerous email exchanges between Napa County Department heads detail an extensive coverup to keep the public in the dark about the contamination, fires, and threats to public health and the environment from these waste operations.
One of the most egregious examples is Napa County covering up the fact that the landfill was on fire during the Glass Fire of 2020, a considerable threat to public health, the workers, and the environment. The Glass Fire crossed from the eastern hills to the western hills in two places, one being Clover Flat Landfill. Eyewitness accounts describe a big explosion when the Glass Fire reached Clover Flat, and then fire shot across the valley from the landfill through the drainage ditch. The Upper Valley Waste Management Agency could not produce evidence of insurance for Clover Flat Landfill during the Glass Fire, even though it is a requirement per their contract.
Waste Connections is grappling with the lemon sites that they purchased. It has not been a complete loss for them as the real value is in the evergreen waste contracts, but Waste Connections’ next steps are critical to the health and environment of Napa County.The infrastructure is defunct or outdated at these waste sites, and the locations are challenging. Since Waste Connections took over, they have encountered landslides, seeps, and possible leachate escape at Clover Flat Landfill. They are investigating the ghost piping reported by employees at both sites, and they experienced a fire at the Upper Valley Disposal Service site this summer. Neighbors and community members are frustrated by the years of inaction from Napa County officials. Things are ripe for change, especially for Clover Flat Landfill, scheduled to close in 2021, but its life was extended to 2047 by the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency.